People are often uncomfortable feeling when they first enter a bed because the bed and covers may be considerably colder than a person's body temperature thereby feeling cold to the touch. This uncomfortable feeling is enhanced during winter months or for older individuals that have poor circulation and are more sensitive to the cooler temperatures.
Various systems have been developed to heat the bedding thereby taking the chill off of entering the bed. One device that has been developed is the electric blanket comprising a fabric material having electric heating elements incorporated therein that heat to distribute heat along the surface of the bed. While electric blankets provide heat such that a person entering the bed will not be chilled, many users do not wish to wait for the blanket to heat or feel comfortable about sleeping under an electric blanket. Further, users often prefer sleeping under conventional blankets rather than an electric blanket and only desire to have a system that heats just prior to entering the bed.
Other systems that have been developed include warm air supplies that operates to blow hot air through one or more an elongated tubes into the cavity formed between a bed sheet and a overlaying cover. In some systems the tubes or conduits operate to direct the warm air into the cavity. Other systems include inflatable members for receiving heated air and are inserted under a bed cover. The inflatable members include a plurality of holes allows that allow the hot air to escape from the members to heat the underside of the cover. While such systems do operate to heat the bed and covers they must be inserted under the bed cover which often is somewhat time consuming. Further, users often want to sleep under the cover of choice and do not want to sleep under the inflatable member or a plurality of interconnected tubes or conduits. This is particularly true if one is traveling and the bed has already been made.
While many prior art systems operate having integrated warm air supplies, systems have also been developed that connect to independent conventional portable warm air supplies, such as a conventional hair dryer having an air inlet and a warm air outlet. The warm air outlet is connected to an elongated tube or conduit that operates to direct the warm air under a bed cover. In operation, the hair dryer is placed on the floor or a counter near the bed and the elongated tube or conduit is inserted under the bed cover such that warm air is blown into the envelope between the bed sheet and the cover lying over the bed sheet. While such systems are more convenient than other bed warming systems, particularly for placement when the bed has already been made or for use with beds when traveling, such as hotel beds, the systems require relatively long tubes or conduits for directing the warm air from the outlet of the warm air supply positioned on the floor or on a stand near the bed to the center of near the center of the bed. Accordingly, this results in the systems that are relatively large making them less portable and requires more effort in set-up and use. Further, warm air traveling along such elongated tubes and conduits will often cool substantially before the warm air travels under the bed cover. Such heat loss can be significant depending on the location of the warm air supply and the temperature in the room thereby significantly decreasing the efficiency of the system and the time to heat the bed covers.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a portable bed warming system that overcomes the disadvantages of the systems and devices described herein above, that can be easily inserted under the cover of a bed and easily removed, that is relatively light weight, compact, and can quickly and effectively heat up the space between a bed sheet and a bed cover and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.